diff --git a/falcon/tests/test_hello.py b/falcon/tests/test_hello.py
index 59b29a8..728c38a 100644
--- a/falcon/tests/test_hello.py
+++ b/falcon/tests/test_hello.py
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ class TestHelloWorld(testing.TestBase):
         resp = self.resource.resp
 
         content_length = int(self.srmock.headers_dict['Content-Length'])
-        self.assertEquals(content_length, len(self.resource.sample_unicode))
+        self.assertEquals(content_length, len(self.resource.sample_utf8))
 
         self.assertEquals(self.srmock.status, self.resource.sample_status)
         self.assertEquals(resp.status, self.resource.sample_status)
diff --git a/falcon/tests/test_response_body.py b/falcon/tests/test_response_body.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1c12ae2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/falcon/tests/test_response_body.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+
+import falcon
+import falcon.testing as testing
+
+
+class TestResponseBody(testing.TestBase):
+
+    def test_append_body(self):
+        text = "Hello beautiful world! "
+        resp = falcon.Response()
+        resp.body = ""
+
+        for token in text.split():
+            resp.body += token
+            resp.body += " "
+
+        self.assertEquals(resp.body, text)